後藤家歴代揃目貫献上箱 Presentation Box for Sword-Grip Ornaments (Menuki)
During the relatively peaceful Edo period (1615–1868), sword fittings became collectible items. This is especially true of those made by the prestigious Gōtō family, purveyors to the shogun and the upper echelons of the warrior society for seventeen generations, beginning in the sixteenth century. The most desirable collections contained fittings by each of the Gōtō masters. This chest houses sword-grip ornaments (menuki) from the first fifteen generations of Gōtō artists, with the makers’ names inscribed in gold lacquer on the drawers. Chests like this were often exchanged as gifts among elite samurai on special occasions such as a raise in rank, a marriage, or the birth of a child.
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